JPH0451211A - Fiber scope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow side observation without allowing the head to swing by forming the front end of an image guide as an inclined part which inclines at a prescribed angle with the axial center at the front end of a straight scope, successively providing a high-refractive index transparent body on the front end face of the guide and forming the front end face of the transparent body as a smooth surface orthogonal with the axial center. CONSTITUTION:The image guide 2 has a long-sized image guide body 10 of a small diameter, a rod lens 11 which is an objective lens successively provided on the front end face of the body 10 and a metallic sleeve 12 for coating the front end of the body 10. The body 10 consists of a glass part consisting of many picture elements having cores and clads and a coating layer for coating the glass part. The front end of the guide 2 is formed as the inclined part 14 inclining at the prescribed angle alpha with the axial center O of the front end 13 of the straight scope. The high-refractive index transparent body 16 is successively provided on the front end face 15 of the body 10 and the front end face of the transparent body 16 is formed as the smooth surface 17 orthogonal with the axial center O.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a fiberscope.

[Problems to be solved by conventional techniques and inventions] Generally,
A fiberscope that is inserted into a small diameter tube such as a blood vessel or ureter of a living body to observe the inside of the narrow diameter tube or the inside of various organs connected to the narrow diameter tube has a small diameter part that is inserted into the small diameter tube. The more preferable,
Furthermore, the larger the observation field, the better.

However, when inserting the tube into a small diameter tube such as a blood vessel or ureter, and observing the small diameter tube, it may be necessary to observe diagonally forward.
In such cases, direct-viewing fiberscopes use a swinging mechanism to shake the head.

Therefore, in this case, the overall structure becomes complicated, and moreover,
Because of its swinging mechanism, the diameter of the insertion part is relatively large,
Furthermore, in a narrow area where the inner diameter of the small-diameter tube and the outer diameter of the insertion portion do not differ much, it is not possible to shake the head, and it is not possible to observe diagonally in front of the subject.

In addition, it is possible to use a prism to observe diagonally ahead (strabismus), but in this case, since a prism is used, halation may occur depending on the condition of the prism surface. Sometimes it was not possible to observe accurately.

Therefore, in the present invention, it is possible to reliably observe diagonally in front of a small diameter tube or in a narrow place such as various organs without using a swinging mechanism or a prism. It is an object of the present invention to provide a fiberscope whose outer diameter can be made extremely small.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the fiberscope according to the present invention tilts the tip of the image guide at a predetermined angle with respect to the axis of the straight scope tip. In addition to the sloped portion, a transparent body with a high refractive index is connected to the distal end surface of the image guide, and the distal end surface of the transparent body is a smooth surface perpendicular to the axis.

[For production]

The tip of the image guide is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the axis of the straight scope tip, so the observation direction as an image guide is along that angle.
Furthermore, a transparent body with a high refractive index is connected to the distal end of the image guide, and the distal end is a smooth surface that is perpendicular to the axis of the scope's distal end. Even light from the side that makes a large angle to the axis of the scope tip can be transmitted through this transparent body to the image guide without causing the head to shake. You can observe the direction.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail based on drawings showing examples.

FIG. 2 shows a fiberscope according to the present invention, which includes an insertion section 4 in which an image guide 2 and a light guide 3 (see FIG. 1) are inserted into a small-diameter tube body 1.
A branch pipe 6 into which only the image guide 2 is inserted and a branch pipe 7 into which only the light guide 3 is inserted are connected to the proximal end of the insertion part 4 via a connecting member 5, and further, The branch tube 6 is connected with an insertion guide tube 8 that is inserted and fixed into an eyepiece (not shown), and the branch tube 7 is connected with an insertion guide tube 9 that is inserted and fixed into a light source device (not shown). There is.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the image guide 2 includes an elongated image guide main body 10 with a small diameter, and an objective lens connected to the distal end surface of the image guide main body 10. The image guide body 10 includes a rod lens 11 and a metal sleeve 12 that covers the rod lens 1 and the tip of the image guide body 10. and a coating layer covering the glass part, and the tip of the image guide 2 is inclined at a predetermined angle α with respect to the axis 0 of the straight scope tip 13. Section 14.

In addition, on the tip surface 15 of this image guide main body lO,
A transparent body 16 with a high refractive index is arranged in series, and the tip surface of this transparent body 16 is a smooth surface 17 perpendicular to the axis 0. That is, the transparent body 16 is placed inside the metal light-shielding layer 18 whose distal end surface 18a is flush with the smooth surface 17, and the distal end insertion portion 19 of the image guide body 10 is inserted, and the light-shielding layer I8 and the transparent body are inserted. The body 16 and the distal end insertion portion 19 of the image guide body 1O are integrated.

This image guide main body 10 includes a connecting member 5,
and reaches the proximal end of the insertion guide tube 8 via the branch tube 6.

Next, the light guide 3 is composed of a plurality of fiber core wires consisting of a core, a cladding, and a coating layer, and the tip thereof is
Similar to the image guide 2, it has an inclined portion 20. Further, this light guide 3 reaches the base end of the insertion guide tube 9 via the connecting member 5 and the branch tube 7.

Thus, the inclined portion 14 of the image guide 2 and the inclined portion 20 of the light guide 3 are adhesively fixed to the tip of the small diameter tube body 1 using an adhesive, and their angles are maintained. In addition,
The inner peripheral surface of the metal light shielding layer 18 , the outer peripheral surface of the tip insertion part 19 of the image guide 2 , the inner peripheral surface of the metal light shielding layer 18 , and the transparent body 1
The outer peripheral surface of the image guide 6, the proximal end surface 16a of the transparent body 16, and the distal end surface 15 of the image guide 2 are each bonded with an adhesive.

As the adhesive, it is preferable to use an epoxy resin adhesive.

Next, a method of manufacturing the insertion section 4 of the fiberscope configured as described above will be explained.

A cylindrical transparent body 16 is connected to the distal end surface 15 of the image guide 2 to which the rod lens 11 is connected via the sleeve 12, and a cylindrical metal light-shielding layer 18 is used to protect the transparent body I6 to With the distal end insertion portion 19 of the image guide 2 covered, the image guide 2 is inserted into the small diameter tube body 1, and the distal end portion of the image guide 2 is bent by a predetermined angle α to form the inclined portion 14. do. In this case, the light guide 3 whose tip portion is bent at a predetermined angle (preferably slightly larger than the above-mentioned angle α, as described later) to form the inclined portion 20 is also a small diameter tube. It is inserted into the body 1. Then, in this state, the inclined portion 14.20 is adhesively fixed within the tip portion of the small diameter tube body 1.

Next, as shown by the imaginary line in FIG.
is a smooth surface perpendicular to the axis 0 of the scope distal end 13 (that is, the distal end of the insertion section 4). Therefore, transparent body 1
The insertion portion 4 can be formed in which the distal end surface of the insert portion 6 is a smooth surface 17 orthogonal to the axis O.

Therefore, if the refractive index of the transparent body 16 is nl, the external refractive index is nZ, the incident angle is 02, and the refraction angle is θ1, then n1si
The relationship n θ+=nzSirl θ2 holds, and the third
The optical path will be as shown in the figure. Note that the refractive index in vacuum or air is 1, and n is 1.

Therefore, as the refractive index n1 of the transparent body 16 increases,
θ is a person, and the viewing direction is the axis 0 of the image guide 2.
2, and the larger the inclination angle θ1 of the transparent body, the further the viewing direction is directed to the side.

That is, when selecting the transparent body 16, it is preferable that the refractive index n is large, and it is further preferable that the dispersion is small. (Note that a small dispersion means a large Atsube number vd.) Therefore, the transparent body 16 has n, >1.4.
, and 20<v d <50, such as quartz glass, flint glass, and lanthanum glass are preferred.

After manufacturing the insertion section 4, the base end of the small diameter tube body 10 of the insertion section 4 is connected to the connection member 5, and the image guide 2 is inserted into the branch tube 6 and the insertion guide tube 8, and the light This fiberscope is formed by inserting the guide 3 into the branch tube 7 and the insertion guide tube 9.

Next, FIG. 4 shows the state in which the fiberscope configured as described above is used. In this case, the guide pipe 21 is
The surgical catheter 22 and the insertion portion 4 of this fiberscope are inserted into a blood vessel, ureter, etc., and inserted into the guide pipe 21.
Insert. That is, the observation site 23 such as the affected area that is irradiated with laser light etc. from the catheter 22 is located in front of the catheter 22 and obliquely in front of the fiberscope, but the observation field of the fiberscope is 3
As shown in the figure, it is diagonally forward, and the observation site 23 can be observed. Note that the image guide 2 is
Since it is possible to observe the sides that form an angle larger than the inclination angle α of 4, the irradiation angle of the illumination light from the light guide 3 must also correspond to this.
The angle of inclination of the inclined part 20 of the light guide 3 is made slightly larger than the angle of inclination of the inclined part 14 of the image guide 2.

Next, FIGS. 5 and 6 show another embodiment, in which case,
The tip of the inclined portion 20 of the light guide 3 is also inserted into the sleeve 12, and the tip surface of the light guide 3 is inserted into the transparent body 16.
It is brought into contact with the base end surface 16a of.

Therefore, in this case, the irradiation direction of the light guide 3 coincides with the viewing direction of the image guide 2. 2
A sleeve 4 covers the tip of the condolens 11 to the image guide body 10.

Next, FIGS. 7 and 8 each show further embodiments,
In the fiberscope shown in FIG.
Various channels 25, 25 are inserted inside. That is, the tube 26 is inserted and fixed inside the tip of the tube body l, and the channels 25 and 25 are inserted into the tube 26.
And the inclined portions 14 and 20 of the image guide 2 with the transparent body 16 and the light guide 3 formed as shown in FIG. 5 are inserted and fixed.

In addition, in the fiberscope shown in FIG. 8, the transparent body 16
is disposed at the center of the scope distal end surface 4a and includes a laser fiber 27. In other words, the relationship between the laser fiber 27 and the image guide 2 is as shown in FIG. 9, and as in the case shown in FIG.
The observation site 23 to be treated can be observed. Note that the channel 25 may be of various types, such as for flush liquid inflow, for suction, and for insertion of a spectroscopic fiber.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the design may be changed without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, the value of the inclination angle α of the inclined portion 14 may be increased or decreased; In the embodiments shown in the figures and FIG. 8, the light guide 3 may be freely disposed on the outer peripheral side of the transparent body 16 as shown in the first example. Furthermore, the image guide 2 with the transparent body 16 inserted into the small-diameter tube body L is not limited to one, but it is also possible to have two or more, and by inserting multiple guides, simultaneous observation under different conditions is possible. can.

It goes without saying that this fiberscope can also be used in industrial fields other than medical.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it produces the effects described below.

It is possible to observe the side without shaking the head, and it is possible to reliably observe diagonally in front of a narrow place where the insertion section 4 can be barely inserted. Further, since there is no need to make the head swing, there is no need to provide a swing mechanism, and the overall structure is simple, and the outer diameter of the insertion portion 4 can be made sufficiently small.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the whole, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part for explaining the operation.
Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the usage state, Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of main parts of another embodiment, and Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view 7 taken along the line ■-■ in Fig. 5.
FIG. 8 and FIG. 8 are enlarged sectional views of main parts of further embodiments, respectively.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the usage state of the fiber scope shown in FIG. 8. 2... Image guide, 13... Scope tip,
14... Inclined portion, 15... Tip surface, 16... Transparent body, 17... Smooth surface, 0... Axis center, α... Angle.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The distal end of the image guide is an inclined part that is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the axis of the straight scope distal end, and a transparent body with a high refractive index is connected to the distal end surface of the image guide, A fiberscope characterized in that the transparent body has a distal end surface that is a smooth surface that is perpendicular to the axis.